


Three Roses

by redlipstickblackdress



Series: Three Roses [1]
Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Humor, Implied Sexual Content, Mild Language, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-11
Updated: 2013-07-11
Packaged: 2017-12-19 04:25:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 19,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/879432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redlipstickblackdress/pseuds/redlipstickblackdress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint Barton meets a sassy girl and makes the wrong first impression.  Her best friend and Thor are immediately attracted to each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Late-Night Grocery Shopping

Lacey grabbed her items and went to the self-checkout. At the checkout station next to her was an attractive man with incredible arms straining against his t-shirt sleeves. He caught her looking at his biceps and gave her a smug grin. Redirecting her attention to her own groceries, Lacey began to scan them. 

“Cat food and ice cream?” Mr. Bowflex said, peering over to her bagging area, “Looks like you’re going to have a sexy weekend.” 

Lacey turned, unable to believe what had just happened. “Are you seriously judging me because of what I’m buying?” 

“Not judging, observing.” 

Looking to see what the guy had in his basket, she retaliated. “The big box of condoms, huh? Somebody thinks highly of himself. ”

“I only buy what I need.” 

“While it’s an economical choice to buy your entire lifetime supply at once, you do know those things expire, right?” 

“Did your imaginary boyfriend tell you that?” Bowflex was seriously obnoxious. 

“I don’t have a boyfriend, because I meet guys like you and decide I’d rather be single forever.” 

“In that case, can I call you sometime?” 

Lacey was taken aback. Bowflex was smiling down at her and took a moment to check out her body. She was wearing pajama pants and an old t-shirt from college. Her shoulder-length brown hair was in a messy ponytail and she wasn’t wearing any makeup. She had no idea why he was hitting on her, especially given the conversation they’d just had, but she knew one thing – no matter how hot he was, Bowflex guy was not getting a number out of her. What he had just said didn’t even make any sense anyway. Was he mocking her?

“As much fun as this has been, I’m going to go with no.” She grabbed her bags, suddenly flustered, and began stomping out of the store. 

“Some other time, then,” he called after her. 

*****

When Lacey got home, she tried not to wake her roommate. She had a bad habit of shopping at 2am. She liked it because it was quiet and usually, she wasn’t disturbed by anyone. Unfortunately, this particular time, she had encountered a completely infuriating person. How dared he insult her like that? She slammed her keys on the counter and began throwing open the cupboards to put stuff away without thinking about it.   
Gwen came out of her room. She was an insomniac, and was actually still awake, but she heard the noise and wanted to know what was going on. 

“What happened? You seem kind of pissed,” she asked. 

“I met the most annoying guy at the self-checkout. He made fun of what I was buying and then tried to hit on me.” 

“Was he cute?” Gwen asked, clearly focusing on the hitting on her part instead of the insulting her part.

“Gwen!” Lacey waited as her roommate stared at her expectantly. “Okay, yes. His arms were to die for. But that’s not the point. He was just…so…obnoxious.” 

“Sounds like he made an impact.” 

“Oh, trust me, if I never see Mr. Bowflex again, it will be too soon.”


	2. The Second Encounter and an Unexpected Third

Unfortunately for Lacey, a week later when she was picking up a few things, she encountered Bowflex guy again. He went up to the self-checkout next to hers and she rolled her eyes. Hoping he wouldn’t notice her, she continued to check out her items, drawing as little attention to herself as possible. 

“Pajama girl, we meet again.”

“Bowflex. Here for lotion and tissues this time?” He glanced down at his arms, getting the reference, and gave her a knowing smile. 

“It’s not the worst thing I’ve been called, but my friends like to call me Clint. Clint Barton.” He offered a hand to her for a handshake. She looked at the hand, then at his face.

“I’m not sure where you got the idea that we’re friends.” 

“Wow, why are you so angry all the time? You know, you’d almost be hot if you smiled once in a while.” 

“I know this is a preposterous notion, but girls are more likely to smile if you’re actually nice to them,” Lacey advised. 

“What? I’m nice!” 

“Right, because it’s totally nice to make fun of random people’s lives when they’re checking out at the grocery store.” 

“I was just confused why a moderately decent-looking girl looked like she didn’t have any weekend plans. I was trying to make small-talk.” 

“Moderately decent-looking?” 

“Well, I’ve seen hotter, but you’re not bad.” 

“You have got to be kidding me.” Lacey grabbed her groceries and started to walk away. 

“I still don’t know your name,” Clint pointed out as she was leaving. 

“You’re not going to.” 

*****

The next morning, Lacey told Gwen that she had run into the guy again and recounted their conversation. At this point, Gwen was curious to see this guy. 

“Ugh, trust me, you don’t want to meet him…with his insults and his dumb…arms.” Lacey told her. “Can we go out tonight? I need a drink after dealing with that ass. It’s my turn to buy.” 

“Sure. There’s a place I’ve been wanting to try, Three Roses, let’s go there.” 

That evening, the girls put on some sexy dresses and got ready to hit the town. Lacey was wearing a sleek black velvet Asian-style dress with a slit that showed a peek of her thigh, and Gwen was wearing a polka dot V-neck low cut halter dress. 

They sat down at the bar and waited for the bartender to take their drink orders. The bartender had his back turned, but as soon as he turned around, Lacey looked horrified. Gwen couldn’t understand why – the guy was smoking hot and was definitely checking out Lacey. He was wearing a vest with no shirt under it and a bow tie. As soon as the bartender spoke, Gwen understood Lacey’s problem. 

“Pajama girl! Well, look at you all dolled up,” he said with a smile. Gwen knew that it must be Lacey’s grocery store foe. “Isn’t your cat going to be lonely tonight?” 

“Cliff, was it? Can I just have a Moscow mule?” Lacey asked trying to ignore the cat remark, wanting to get away from him as quickly as possible. 

“Clint. And I’m going to have to check your IDs. And you are?” He had directed his attention to Gwen. 

“Gwen.” 

“Gwen, that’s a beautiful name,” he smiled, giving Gwen back her ID, and Lacey could not believe that he was trying to flirt with her friend. She stared, open-mouthed and speechless, as this transpired. “What can I get for you?”

“Whiskey sour.” Clint handed Lacey back her ID after inspecting it. “A whiskey sour for Gwen, and a Moscow mule for Lacey.” He gave Lacey a smug look, taunting her with the fact that in spite of her best efforts to hide it from him, he had found out her name. 

“Unbelievable!” Lacey said to Gwen while he was busy. “He…why…he was nice to you!” 

“Yes, he was,” Gwen said, checking out Clint’s ass while he was turned around. When she saw Lacey giving her the ‘don’t you dare’ look, she amended her statement. “Well, maybe he’s just trying to get a good tip.” Although he was pretty hot, Gwen had to admit, he definitely had treated her differently than he’d treated Lacey, which was slightly concerning.

“Which is funny, considering the fact that he’s always been a jerk to the person who’s paying.” 

Clint handed them their drinks. “Do you want to open a tab?” 

Lacey was about to say no and just pay for the drinks and get the hell out of there as soon as they had finished them, but Gwen was not about to let that happen. “Yes!” Begrudgingly, Lacey handed Clint her card. 

Two girls in incredibly short, tight dresses sat down at the bar and Clint went over to take their orders. They immediately began flirting and giggling at everything he said. It was obvious that he was eating it up. He was smiling and laughing, and Lacey thought she even noticed his chest puff up a little bit. He glanced at her and if she didn’t know better, she’d think he was gloating. 

Like she cared if girls flirted with him. She certainly didn’t want him. It didn’t bother her at all. Except that it did. She couldn’t figure out why he was nice to every girl except her. It’s not like she provoked it – he was the one who started talking to her in the grocery store. She had no idea why, and he’d been douchey to her from the get-go. 

Whatever. She wasn’t about to let him get her goat. 

“How are you ladies doing?” Clint was back over to Lacey and Gwen. 

“Was doing fine until you came back,” Lacey mumbled, just loudly enough for him to hear. He raised his eyebrows at her, then turned to Gwen. 

“I don’t think your friend likes me very much.” 

“I KNOW she doesn’t like you very much.” 

“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” Lacey said, then escaped the situation. 

“She likes your arms,” Gwen told him when Lacey was gone. He raised an eyebrow for a moment while pondering this information, then smirked when he realized that it could be used to his advantage. Lacey returned and Clint leaned over the bar, resting on an elbow. His arm was right in front of Lacey’s face, every muscle evident. He then began talking to Gwen and completely ignoring Lacey. 

“So, what is it you do, Gwen?” Gwen gave him kind of a weird look for so blatantly ignoring Lacey, but decided to be polite.

“I’m a hotel critic.” 

“Really? That’s interesting. So, you must get to travel a lot.” 

“Yes, there is a lot of traveling in my line of work. I love to travel, though.” Gwen glanced at Lacey, trying to encourage Clint to include her in the conversation at least, but he didn’t. Gwen immediately figured out what was going on – she had seen it before. He was trying too hard to pretend he didn’t like Lacey while simultaneously trying to make her jealous.

While they were talking, Lacey had some mixed feelings. She couldn’t help but admire the arm in front of her, and a small part in the back of her head wondered what an arm like that might feel around her. For the first time, she was also close enough to smell him – a combination of nice cologne, an outdoorsy, earthy type of smell, and a bit of shampoo. It was with this observation that she remembered that not only was he completely ignoring her, but everything he’s ever said to her was insulting and obnoxious.

“Excuse me,” she said, tapping his bicep and not complaining about the way it felt, “do you mind?” She pointed to his arm, which was very obviously in her personal space. 

“Oh, is my arm in your way? Sorry about that,” he said as if he weren’t sorry at all, but moved his arm. Then he went over to take some newcomers’ drink orders and Lacey glared at his back. 

The girls had one more round there before Gwen finally let Lacey pay and leave. While they were there, Clint took a few opportunities to make sure his arms were prominently displayed in front of Lacey. She was starting to regret having called him Bowflex – he must have figured out that she found his arms attractive. However, she was not about to let him know it got to her. As they were leaving, Clint called after her. 

“See you at the usual time, Lacey.” She ignored him. 

“If you’re trying to flirt with her, your game sucks,” Gwen said before following Lacey outside.


	3. Clint Gets to the Bottom of Things

Lacey knew she should simply go shopping at a different time. If he knew she went at 2am between Friday nights and Saturday mornings, she should simply change her schedule and she wouldn’t have to see Clint again. But she didn’t. She wasn’t about to let him think that he had any effect on her, and why should she change her habits for some jerk anyway? So, on Friday night at 2am, she was back at the store in her pajamas. She actually thought she had avoided him, but just as she was finishing up bagging her items, he appeared next to her as usual. 

“Well, if it isn’t Lacey McMannis,” he was still being smug about having gotten her name off of her ID. He glanced down at her pajama pants. “Phasers set to stun as always.” 

“You may not be wearing a red shirt, but I’ll still end you.” 

Clint raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Seeing my Star Trek reference and raising me a red shirt joke? That was…actually pretty cool.” Lacey couldn’t tell if he was making fun of her or not, but knowing him, he probably was.

“Yes, well, I’m sure the girls you’re used to probably think Klingon is a brand of glue.” 

“Why don’t you like me?” Clint asked, taking Lacey by surprise. 

“You can’t be serious,” she responded, although he certainly looked serious. “Um, maybe because you’re always mean to me?” 

“How am I mean?” Once again, he looked genuinely surprised. 

“The first thing you ever said to me, when I had never met you before, was some insinuation about my life.” 

“Well, it was the only way I could think of to talk to you,” he replied casually, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. While Lacey stood there, shocked, he gathered up his bags and walked away like it was no big deal.

*****

When she got home, Gwen came out of her room and instantly could tell that Lacey’d had another encounter. 

“You saw Clint again, didn’t you?” 

“How can you tell?” 

“You have a Clint look. It’s the same look you get when your mom tells you that she was married at your age, except a little angrier.” 

“The nerve of him. Seriously. Being a jerk and then trying to flirt with me. He’s just trying to mess with me. He can’t stand it that there’s some girl who’s not all over him.” 

“Lace, did it occur to you that maybe he likes the fact that there’s a girl who’s not all over him?” 

“Of course not. It’s just killing him that a girl finally sees what an ass he is and now he’s trying to make up for it so that his perfect record isn’t tainted. Well, it’s not going to work. I see right through his little tricks and there is nothing he can do to change my mind.” 

“Uh-oh. He’s brought out stubborn Lacey,” Gwen said, helping Lacey put away a couple of things. “We’re going to Three Roses tomorrow night.” 

“No, we’re not.” 

“Yeah, we are.” 

“You can go, but I refuse. I am not going back to Three Roses. Ever.”


	4. The Girls Meet Thor

“Why am I here again?” Lacey asked as they were walking into Three Roses. 

“Because I think Clint likes you.” 

“He doesn’t.” 

They sat down at the bar and Clint smiled. He seemed to enjoy Lacey’s blue peplum dress. While he was getting the drinks they ordered, Gwen suddenly said, “Oh my…” she trailed off. Lacey turned and saw a giant. Well, to her he was a giant. He had to be about four of five inches over six feet, had broad shoulders, a lot of muscles, and long blond hair. He was absolutely gorgeous. 

He walked up to the bar, and Clint saw him. 

“Thor!” The two men did a bro handshake. 

“Who is that?” Gwen asked Lacey. “Can I have one?” 

“I’ll get right on that,” Lacey told her. 

“Come here, man, I want you to meet my new favorite customers.” Lacey rolled her eyes at that, assuming that Clint was trying to get on her good side again. Clint brought Thor over to the girls and introduced them. When Clint said Lacey’s name, Gwen saw just the slightest change on Thor’s face, as if he had heard the name before. He went into wingman mode and sat down next to Gwen. Clint poured him a mug of beer.

“It is my pleasure to meet such beautiful ladies. I am Thor Odinson.” 

“Pleasure’s mine…” Gwen said, slightly awkwardly. Thor didn’t seem to notice. They began to chat, unintentionally leaving Lacey to interact with Clint, much to her annoyance. Unfortunately, the bar wasn’t very full for some reason, so Clint wasn’t too busy to pester her. He didn’t say anything at first, just leaned over the counter with his arms in her space, and she was beginning to wonder if Gwen had told him something about her liking his arms – if she did, she would have to pay for that later. Finally, Lacey felt like she should say something, which would be less awkward than just staring at him with his arms in front of her. 

“Why did you want to talk to me?” She was genuinely curious what he had meant at the grocery store.

“When we first met?” He asked for clarity. 

“Yes, our oh-so-friendly first meeting.” 

“Well, when someone is shopping at two in the morning, a guy wonders what that person is like. I just thought you might be interesting.” 

“You were also shopping at 2am,” she pointed out. 

“Yeah, don’t you find me interesting?” 

“That’s one word for it,” Lacey snorted. “You’re trying to get me to like you, aren’t you?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Why?”

“Man, what is your deal? Can’t I just want to get to know you?” 

“You’ve been a jerk to me from the moment you first spoke to me.”

“Look, I’m sorry I teased you. I didn’t know you’d take it so personally.” Lacey was kind of taken aback that he apologized. She didn’t really know what to say. She just stared at him, refusing to let him know how attractive she found him. “Thank you, Clint, I accept your apology and forgive you,” he prompted in a poor imitation of her voice. She had to hold back a smile at his falsetto. “Come on,” he continued. “You can make a red shirt joke about me if it’ll make you feel better.” At that, Lacey couldn’t hold back the smile any more, and the sides of her mouth curled up involuntarily. “Aha! See, there it is. I knew it,” Clint said, pointing to her face. “You are almost hot when you smile.” 

That made the smile disappear immediately. “Almost?” He just shrugged as if to say, ‘that’s just how it is’ before he walked away to greet a big-boobed blonde girl and her friend that had just come in. 

“Can you recommend a shot for us to take?” 

“Only if I can take it with you,” he said in a flirtatious voice. The girls giggled as he began to make the shots. Lacey rolled her eyes and directed her attention to Gwen and Thor.

*****

Meanwhile, Thor and Gwen had been hitting it off. 

“It is wonderful to meet you, Gwen. What is your vocation?” 

“I write reviews of hotels. I travel to different hotels and give them a rating and write reviews of them. You?” 

Thor explained the Avengers Initiative and how he and a group of friends were available for S.H.I.E.L.D. to call if the world was in danger. He described all the members to her, including Clint, who was also a part of it. Apparently, Clint only did the bartending thing because he liked it.

 

“That sounds really interesting. Your girlfriend must worry about you,” Gwen said after checking his left hand to see if he was married. 

“I have no romantic attachments.” Well, that answered that question. 

“If I had a boyfriend with such a dangerous career, I would worry  
about him constantly,” Gwen insisted, then blushed. She suddenly realized how obvious her attraction to him sounded when she said something like that. However, he didn’t seem to notice, and responded casually. 

“But he would be an honorable warrior, protecting you from danger,” Thor explained. Well, when he put it like that, what could she say? She didn’t have to say anything, because suddenly Thor slammed a fist on the bar, causing Gwen and Lacey to jump, and boomed, “I HUNGER! I need sustenance!” 

A waitress quickly handed him a menu, looking frightened. “I would like a steak! Rare!” His voice was still a few decibels louder than it needed to be. The waitress quickly escaped the situation to put in the order. 

Watching Clint flirt with the blonde girl and her friend, Lacey suddenly felt unattractive and lame, and she didn’t know why. Some jerk’s comment shouldn’t matter. 

The girls giggled and waved goodbye to Clint as he smiled at them while they left. Apparently, they had just come in for the one shot. Clint came back over to Lacey and leaned on his arms in front of her again. She just turned her head and ignored him. 

“What? Are you mad at me over the ‘almost hot’ comment? I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.” 

She turned to face him, daggers in her eyes. “Oh, I can’t imagine how that would hurt my feelings. By the way, you could probably get one of those girls to help you use up your unnecessarily big box of condoms. You could probably still catch them, they can’t have gotten far. You might want to use two with the blonde – who knows how many men have explored her strange new worlds.” 

“Does it bother you that I was talking to her?” He asked with feigned seriousness. 

“You’re a jackass.” Lacey wasn’t entirely sure where this conclusion came from, since he was a bartender talking to customers, but did he have to be all over them after insulting her? It was just rude. 

“Now, now. I can’t help it if most girls find me charming. I don’t know how you don’t think so.” 

“You were almost charming for a moment there, but that was obviously a fluke.” She gave Gwen the best-friend let’s-leave-now signal. Gwen finished by giving her number to Thor and paying for the drinks. Lacey didn’t say another word to Clint the entire time.


	5. Clint is Helpful

When he saw her on Friday for their usual shopping interaction, Lacey was ignoring him. 

“Are you still mad at me?” No answer. “I didn’t mean what I said, I just like to give you a hard time.” 

“Why?” 

“Because you’re pretty cute when you get all sassy.” 

Lacey looked at him, trying to figure out if he was making fun of her again or teasing her. “So, I’ve gone from ‘almost hot’ to ‘pretty cute’ now? Is that supposed to be an upgrade?” 

“Nah. You’ve always been pretty cute. The Christmas pajamas in June and the huge college t-shirts are really a good look for you.” 

“Okay, that’s enough out of you,” Lacey said. Any time he said something nice to her, he followed it up with something snarky. Frankly, she was tired of his backhanded compliments. 

“I mean it, you look good,” he said at her back as she walked out, but was ignored. Lacey didn’t need any more of his attitude. 

Clint was about to gather up his stuff and leave when he noticed something on the floor. He picked it up – a business card. It said: 

Serendipity Bakery  
Lacey McMannis  
Baker and Cake Designer

The card also had an address and phone number. It must have fallen out of Lacey’s purse, and Clint pocketed it with a smile. 

*****

Gwen tried to get Lacey to go to Three Roses again on Saturday, but Lacey refused to give into her friend. She didn’t like the way she always felt flustered and unsettled when she interacted with Clint. She didn’t realize that Gwen was actually trying to get them together. Gwen knew that Lacey was in such denial about her attraction to Clint, and actually thought they could be good together – if they didn’t kill each other first and got around to admitting their feelings. 

“Please?” Gwen said. 

“No. Why do you want to go there anyway? The drinks aren’t even that outstanding.” Gwen just looked at her. “Okay, fine, best Moscow mule I’ve ever had, but still.”

“Please? Please please please please?” 

“No no no no.” 

“But I want to see Thor again.” 

Lacey paused. Even though she didn’t want to have to see Clint, she didn’t want to deny Gwen the opportunity to see Thor. He had seemed pretty nice, and he and Gwen had seemed like they got along really well. Lacey thought it would be great for Gwen to get an awesome guy. 

“How do you know he’s going to even be there?” 

“He said he would last week.” Gwen was starting to give her the ‘I love you so much you’re the best friend ever’ smile. 

“UGH, fine. Fine, we’ll go. But I’m going to look hot. SO HOT. He thinks I’m ‘almost hot’, well, he can hang onto his hat.” Lacey knew it would be an effort, but for some reason, she had to prove him wrong. She wasn’t going to just stand by and be ‘almost’ anything. 

Clint had been checking the door to the bar all night, hoping Lacey would come in. Even though she never seemed very happy with him, he thought it was fun to give her a hard time. He looked over while he was making a drink for yet another giggling blonde girl when the door opened and in she came. 

Hot damn. 

She was wearing a fitted red sweetheart-neckline cap-sleeved dress that fell to a few inches above her knees. Her shoulder-length brown hair was curled and accented with a red flower, and her lipstick matched the dress perfectly. 

“Uh, dude. You can stop pouring now.” The guy sitting at the bar in front of him pointed out. Looking down, Clint realized that while staring at Lacey, he was pouring rum all over his hand. The customer looked to see what had made him so distracted, and saw Lacey. “Holy…” The bar was full tonight, and several guys turned and looked at her walking in. Gwen came in behind her, also looking gorgeous in what she called her ‘purple dress of sex’.

Thor, who was already there, turned after having stuffed a massive handful of fries into his mouth. When he saw Gwen, his mouth curved into a smile, even though his cheeks were puffed up from being full of potato. 

Gwen sat down next to Thor and Lacey sat next to her. The guy in the barstool next to Lacey turned to her. 

“How’s it going?” Clint watched as Lacey gave the guy a huge smile. 

“Hey,” she said. 

Clint felt his jaw clench as he watched her flirt. It didn’t help that the guy looked like a complete tool. He reeked of cologne…and douche. However, you’d think Lacey didn’t know the difference, she was practically throwing herself at the guy. Clint dropped the glass he was holding. 

“Shit.” He grabbed a broom to sweep up the broken glass. Glancing over again, he saw Lacey laugh and touch the douche’s arm. It was bothering him more than he liked to admit. She looked staggeringly gorgeous. Whatever, two could play at that game, he decided. He began to flirt with a redheaded girl at the bar. 

Lacey saw it. Redheads had always been a problem for her romantic life. Every guy she ever liked had a thing for redheads. She didn’t know why it should bother her – she certainly didn’t like Clint. Also, the guy she was pretending to flirt with was seriously skeevy. He needed to bring the cologne down a few notches, and she didn’t entirely like the way he was looking at her. Fortunately, the guy said he had to go to the bathroom and she was given a few moments of peace. When she was alone, Clint made his way over to her. 

“So, that’s your type? Maybe he’ll take you home to his shed where you can hang out with some other tools.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lacey said haughtily. “He was being friendly and I was being friendly back. It’s amazing how much more smoothly conversation goes when you’re actually nice to people.” 

“Yeah, it’s also amazing how much easier it is to be nice to girls when you’re trying to get into their pants.” Lacey didn’t have any response to that, although she was angry with herself that she was so lame at thinking of comebacks. Clint looked up and gave her a nonchalant look. “Oh, look. Your boyfriend is coming back.” Lacey closed her eyes and cringed involuntarily. “But to prove to you that I’m not mean, all you have to do is say the word and I’ll get rid of him.” 

Lacey thought for a second. She really did want to get rid of the douche, but that would probably mean she owed Clint, and she seriously didn’t want to do that. When the tool was still a few feet away, she could already smell his cologne. That was the breaking point.

“The word.” 

Clint nodded and started making a drink. The douche sat back down next to her and asked, “Miss me, babe?” 

“Uh, yeah, you know it.” Wasn’t Clint supposed to be helping her? Fortunately, that’s when Clint came back over. 

“Hey, man,” he said to the guy, “that redhead over there is way into you.” 

The douchey guy looked over at the redhead, and she smiled and gave him a little wave. He looked back at Lacey for a second, trying to figure out which girl was more worth it, but decided that he was more likely to get the redhead into bed. With a look of fake apology, he went over a joined the redhead. When he was gone, Clint leaned on his elbow, resting his chin on his hand, and gave Lacey a look that said, ‘I told you I’d help.’

“Okay, how did you do that? Was the redhead actually interested in him?” 

“If she is, she didn’t say so. I gave her a drink and said it was from him. That’s why she waved.” 

“But what if she thanks him for the drink and he denies it?”

“A guy like that is only trying to find a girl to take home tonight. He’s not going to deny that he gave her the drink, he’ll just suck it up and pay for it if it ups his chances of getting laid,” Lacey nodded and she had to admit, she was impressed. Then Clint reminded her of the part of this plan she was dreading. “You totally owe me.” 

“Fine. I owe you. But it has to be of equal or lesser value. No asking me to pick you up from New Jersey at 3am or anything like that.” 

Clint looked very serious and held up three fingers in a scout’s honor. She had to admit, it was pretty cute. She couldn’t help but smile, as hard as she tried not to. 

“By the way,” Clint said, still resting his chin on his hand with an adorable look on his face, “you look absolutely stunning tonight.” Lacey smiled again. It wasn’t ‘hot’, but it was even better. Then, of course, he had to screw it up like he always did. “I mean, if you’re into this kind of thing,” he added, gesturing at her. 

What was that supposed to mean?


	6. Gwen and Thor Hit it Off

During this time, Thor and Gwen had been plotting. 

“I think our friends like each other…we should do something about that,” Gwen told him. 

“Should we inform them of their mutual feelings?” 

“Nooo! That will just make Lacey refuse to acknowledge it even more. Don’t mention anything to Clint either – he’s going to need to try harder if he wants to get her. That jerk act is so not going to cut it. We’re clearly going to have to be subtle about this.” 

“Does this mean that we will be in the company of one another more frequently?” Thor asked as if he wanted a certain answer. 

“Well, if we’re going to try to get those two to be less awkward, I think maybe it’s going to take some time together. I think we should possibly plan to meet up a few times.” Gwen was trying to figure out if that meant he wanted to see her more often, and based on the smile he gave her, she was guessing he did. It was flattering that such an outstandingly handsome man wanted to spend time with her. 

Gwen looked over at Lacey and saw her pretending to flirt with some overly fragrant tool while Clint was talking up a redhead. Both of them kept glancing at each other to check each other’s reactions. 

“What a couple of derps,” she concluded. 

“What is this ‘derp’?” 

“Uh, ‘derp’ means…it’s kind of when people are being idiots…do you have an email? I’ll just send you a link,” she said, changing the subject. “So, tell me about where you’re from.” 

“Asgard is the most beautiful place in all the nine realms. It is a place in the clouds with shining blue waters, tall majestic mountains, and a shining city with a golden palace. That’s where I grew up. What your world has long believed to be myth and magic is what I have known my entire life.” 

“I always thought Asgard was just Norse mythology.” 

“I wish to show you something,” Thor said. He got up from his barstool and went to the door, opened it, and stuck his arm outside. He waited for a minute, then brought his arm in, a hammer in his hand. Thor went back over to Gwen and placed the hammer on the bar. It was a big silver rectangle with a brown handle.

“Is that supposed to be Mjolnir? The hammer of legend?” Thor nodded. “May I?” Gwen asked. Thor nodded again. Gwen placed a hand on the handle of the hammer and tried to lift it. She couldn’t get it to budge. She put her other hand on the handle and tried to lift with both hands. She stood up and used all of her strength, her entire body weight, but she couldn’t get it to move. The weirdest part was, it wasn’t that it felt too heavy to lift or like it was glued down, it was more just that it couldn’t move. Almost like it had a personality and refused to move for her. She looked at Thor, and he winked at her before picking up the hammer and tossing it between his hands as if it weighed nothing.


	7. Serendipity

Monday at work was boring like it always was for Lacey. She hadn’t opened her bakery that long ago, and business hadn’t really picked up yet. Occasionally she had someone come in for a few muffins or a box of cookies, but for the most part, she wasn’t doing that well. 

Suddenly, a tall, beautiful woman with strawberry blonde hair appeared, looking a bit frantic. 

“Do you do wedding cakes?” she asked. 

“Yes,” Lacey said. She loved cake decorating, it was the reason she’d gone into baking, and she had made wedding cakes as a favor to friends before, but not since she had opened her shop. 

“Okay, I have a bit of an emergency. My wedding is two weeks away and our cake person cancelled on us. I’ve been everywhere, but nobody has an opening. Would you happen to be able to get a wedding cake done by the 29th?” 

It was very short notice, but it’s not like her business was booming. “I believe I could, yes.” The woman looked visibly relieved. “Would you like to look at some designs?” 

“Actually, that’s the other thing…” the woman continued, “We want a custom design and it’s a little bit…unique.” 

Lacey hesitated. She knew that an unusual custom wedding cake on such short notice would be expensive, but this woman sounded so desperate, she felt bad charging her so much. Guessing Lacey’s qualm, the woman reassured her.

“Money is no object. My fiancé is a billionaire, and he is the one who is being picky about the design. He’s a bit of a diva,” she said, then pulled a few pictures out of her purse. “We want it to look like this.” 

“That’s Stark Tower.” Lacey stated the obvious. Then she remembered that this bride had said her fiancé was a billionaire. “Your fiancé isn’t…are you engaged to Tony Stark?” The woman nodded. “Then, you must be Pepper Potts! I’m Lacey.” Lacey remembered seeing her name and picture in the newspaper when their engagement had been announced months ago. 

“Now, what flavor were you thinking?”

“Red velvet.” 

“Would you like to try some? I have some red velvet made right now.” 

“That would be wonderful.” 

Lacey reached into the glass counter and cut a small slice of the cake, put it on a plate, and slid it to Pepper. The bride took a bite of the cake, and closed her eyes when it hit her tongue. It was the most smooth, delicious red velvet she’d ever tasted. 

“This is the best cake I’ve ever had. Maybe I should thank the guy who cancelled on us – I wouldn’t have discovered you. I found your website and I’m so glad I did. You’re a life-saver! Can I bring a sample home to my fiancé? He’s too lazy to come with me to this stuff.” 

“It’s no problem, I’m happy I can help!” 

“You know what? To thank you for being available on such short notice for such a unique request, I’d be happy if you stayed at the wedding as a guest after you drop off the cake.” 

“Wow. Thanks. I’d love to! If you need anything else, feel free to call me or come in at any time.” 

“Thank you so much, Lacey!”

***** 

When Lacey was working on some drawings to plan out the structure of the cake, she heard someone else came in. When she looked up, her face fell. It was Clint. 

“So, this is what you look like during daylight hours.” He looked over her 1950s style dress, apron, and hairstyle. That was pretty much her daily style – vintage fashion was one of her passions. 

“How did you find me?” She was a bit grumpy about him showing up to spoil her otherwise great day. 

“You dropped this at the store the other night.” Clint held up the business card. 

“What are you doing here?” 

“I can’t just come in to say hi?” 

“No, I have paying customers to deal with.” Admittedly, the place was completely empty. Clint looked around. 

“Yeah, I can see I’m really distracting from all the work you have to do,” he said sarcastically.

“For your information, I have a billionaire’s wedding cake to make and decorate in less than two weeks. I actually have plenty to do around here, thank you very much.” 

Clint decided that he should keep it to himself that he knew whose wedding it must be, that Tony Stark and Pepper Potts were some of his closest friends, and that he would be at their wedding. Lacey just looked at him, hoping he would catch the hint and leave. That was not to be. He stepped closer and examined the items in the glass case. 

“Can I have a cherry vanilla cupcake?” 

Lacey grumpily put down her sketch pad and pulled out the cupcake in question, put it in a small box, and handed it to him. He paid for it and then took the box over to a table close to the counter. 

“This tiny box is so fancy,” he said. “I feel like I’m Alice about to eat a cake that’s going to turn me into a giant.” Lacey tried to ignore the fact that he was referencing her favorite children’s book. Clint pulled out the cupcake and took a huge bite. Once he had swallowed it, he looked at the remainder of the cupcake in amazement. “Oh my God. I wasn’t expecting it to be this good.” 

“Thanks for having faith in my skill.” 

“No, seriously, this is really freaking good.” 

“I know. I’m just that awesome. Now, are you going to explain to me why you’re stalking me?” Lacey demanded. 

“You’re the one who came into my bar.” 

“I didn’t know it was your bar.”

“But you came back.”

“That’s because Gwen likes it there.” Clint raised an eyebrow like he didn’t really believe her, when he suddenly noticed what song was starting to play on the radio station Lacey had playing in her store. 

“Oh, man! This song is the best!” It was ‘It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me’ by Billy Joel. He stood up and walked over to Lacey, singing the lyrics loudly. “What’s the matter with the clothes I’m wearing? / Can’t you tell that your tie’s too wide? / Maybe I should buy some old tab collars, / Welcome back to the age of Jive.” He pointed to Lacey while she tried not to laugh. When she didn’t sing, he gave her a ‘you’re not fooling me’ look. “Oh, come on. Don’t even pretend you don’t know the words. I know you like Billy Joel. Everybody likes Billy Joel.” 

Lacey really did like Billy Joel. Besides, although she hated to admit it, Clint was being really cute. She caved – there was no way to resist singing along to Billy Joel. 

“Everybody’s talking ‘bout the new sound, funny, but it’s still rock and roll to me,” she sang. Clint looked thoroughly pleased with himself. 

“What’s the matter with the car I’m driving?” Clint continued.

“Can’t you tell that it’s out of style?” Lacey responded.

“Should I get a set of white wall tires?”

“Are you gonna cruise the miracle mile?” On this line, Lacey turned around and grabbed a whisk to use as a microphone. She held it in front of Clint, then her, depending on who was singing. 

“Nowadays you can’t be too sentimental.”

“Your best bet’s true, baby blue continental.” 

“Hot funk, cool punk, even if it’s old junk, it’s still rock and roll to me.” They sang that part together. They finished out the rest of the song in a similar fashion before Clint air-guitared the last riff. When it was over, Clint looked at her with a surprised facial expression. 

“What just happened? Did you just have fun?” 

“Yes, even almost-hot pajama girls know how to let our hair down occasionally,” she responded with equal sass. 

He was leaned over her counter on his elbows, his face maybe five or six inches away from hers, and he was looking at her with an expression she couldn’t quite figure out. It was almost as if he wanted to – no, he couldn’t want to kiss her. All the same, it was making her feel awkward, so she took a step backward. 

“I guess I should get going,” Clint said, as if coming back to reality from a daydream. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he added as he walked to the door. 

“I guess I’ll only do shots and fake blondes, then,” she promised. 

“Ouch!” He put a hand over his heart as if she had stabbed him as he walked out. 

Lacey couldn’t help but smile and shake her head as he left.


	8. Friendship is Formed

Gwen entered the coffee shop in a white layered skirt and a tight green top. Thor looked up from a table and smiled at her. He walked over and crushed her in a hug. 

“Gwen! It is good to see you again!” 

“It’s awesome to see you again too!” 

“What is your favorite drink with coffee?”

“Uh, hazelnut latte…”

“Wait here! I will obtain it!” He was, as usual, being a little louder than necessary, but it was sweet that he was going to go buy her coffee. A few minutes later, he came back with two hazelnut lattes and gave her one. 

“Thank you, Thor.” Gwen smiled at him. 

“You are most welcome.” He gave her a quick wink.

They talked for a while about Clint and Lacey, discussing their friends’ personalities and interests. They also shared how their friends behaved when they liked someone romantically, especially when they felt like that person was unattainable. Gwen learned that Clint secretly was a huge idiot when he liked a girl and tried too hard to act indifferent, just as Gwen had suspected. After a while, the conversation drifted back to themselves. 

“Would you tell me about your career?” Thor asked. 

“Of course! I just get to travel to different hotels, stay in them for a night and try as many of their services as possible, and I write a review of the hotel and rate it on several criteria. I love my job. I am going to a few hotels in Maine and Vermont this week and then in a few weeks I’m flying across the country to try a hotel in Seattle.” 

“I have been wanting to see this Seattle.” Gwen just kind of looked at him awkwardly, not having a response. “You are leaving this week?” Thor asked, looking sad. 

“I’ll be back next week,” Gwen promised. 

“I look forward to it,” Thor said with a smile. 

*****

The rest of the week simply consisted of working on Pepper’s wedding cake designs. Lacey couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have been available for such a high-profile wedding. Not only would she make a lot of money for it, but it might bring in more business when word got out that she was Tony Stark’s wedding cake baker. 

Gwen was gone for the week, and Lacey was pretty bored, but the wedding cake kept her busy. By Friday, she was so bored and lonely that she was actually vaguely looking forward to seeing Clint during their 2am shopping trip. This time, she looked for him in the store instead of just waiting for them to meet at the checkout. She found him in the freezer aisle. 

“Hey.” She said. He turned and smirked at her. 

“Are you following me now?” Clint joked. 

“What? Can’t I just say hi?” She asked, imitating the way he had said it to her before. 

“Are you mocking me?” He asked with a smile in his eyes that didn’t quite reach his mouth. “Does this mean we’re friends now?” 

“I mean, is it even possible to not be friends with someone after you’ve sung Billy Joel with them?” 

“You have a point.” He nodded. Lacey watched as Clint shoveled about 12 microwave dinners into his cart. 

“I know these newfangled microwaves are all the rage now, but back in the day, we used to use these things called ovens and stoves,” she said. 

“Very funny. I just can’t be bothered to cook, that’s all.” 

“I wasn’t judging. Just observing.” Clint couldn’t help but be amused at the way she was using his own words against him. While she was there, she grabbed a tub of chocolate cherry ice cream.

“Are you trying to single-handedly keep the ice cream industry alive?” Clint asked. 

“Shut up.”

“Nice comeback, that was witty.”

“Whatever, like you’re Oscar Wilde.” 

The rest of the shopping trip continued in much the same way – making little snide comments on each other’s purchases and retaliating with snarky comebacks, but unlike before, they were friends, and knew that they could joke around with each other. By the time they left, Clint knew he was pretty excited to see Lacey in his bar the next night. 

The next night, she didn’t show up.


	9. Cupcakes and Horses

Clint appeared at the bakery on Monday morning in jeans and a tight t-shirt. 

“Hey.” Lacey said, kind of surprised to see him again in her shop.

“I didn’t see you on Saturday,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, Gwen was out of town – she comes back today. I felt weird going to a bar by myself. Why, did you miss me or something?” 

“No,” he lied, “you had just been coming every Saturday and you didn’t, that’s all.”

“I see,” Lacey shrugged, “try this.” She demanded, putting a cupcake in front of him.

“Yes, ma’am.” Clint took a bite of the cupcake. “That’s good, what is it?” 

“Coconut lime. I’m trying out some new flavors.” 

“I like it,” he said, taking another bite of the cupcake. “Do you have any others that need testing?” 

Lacey gave him another one while he was finishing the first one. “This one’s chocolate-covered strawberry.” Clint also liked that one. 

“What else you got?” He asked when he had finished it. 

“That’s it right now.”

“Can I be your Official Cupcake Flavor Tester?”

“No. You can be my Unofficial Cupcake Flavor Tester, if you want.” 

“I guess I’ll take what I can get.”

“Here, you can have this one to go,” she put a chocolate raspberry cupcake in a box and handed it to him. “I have a meeting with a bride in a few minutes.” 

“Fine, fine, I see when I’m not wanted,” he said in a fake hurt tone as he left. 

*****

Gwen got into Thor’s big red truck and buckled in. She didn’t know where they were going, she was just told not to wear a dress or skirt, so she had on jeans and a black t-shirt. Thor was also wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but a blue one. He took her on a decently long drive and then finally stopped. They got out and entered a stable. 

“We’re going horseback riding?” Gwen asked, looking around.

“Is that not acceptable?”

“No, it’s fine! It’ll be fun.” She smiled at him reassuringly. 

He got her set up with a horse and then got on his. The horse Thor was riding was enormous, but it still looked like it was not enjoying having such a huge man on top of him. 

The horses began to walk side-by-side, and they were quiet for a moment before Gwen spoke. 

“Do you miss Asgard?” She asked Thor.

“I do. I miss my mother and my father, and even my brother.” Gwen noticed that his voice changed a little when he mentioned his brother, but he seemed to not want to talk about it. “I would love nothing more than to visit it again in the near future. Asgard is my home. Does your family reside near you?” 

“No, they live in Colorado. I miss them sometimes, but I doubt they miss me very much. They have my sister, and she’s the pretty and talented one.”

“I do not believe that could be true. You are very beautiful and employ yourself doing something you love. I cannot understand how someone who is away from you could not want you to be with them.”

Gwen smiled up at him and almost melted at Thor’s smile. He was ridiculously handsome, and no man had said anything so sweet to her before. She’d had some bad experiences with guys she’d dated in the past, but with Thor she felt safe and comfortable. Somehow, she felt like he’d never hurt her like the other guys had. 

They continued to ride, exchanging smiles and glances, and didn’t want the day to end.


	10. Baconnaise

Pepper came into the shop to check on the wedding cake and was happy with the progress. It was a busy week, and by the end of it Lacey was exhausted. Even though she knew she’d have to get up and prepare for the wedding the next day, she still went on her 2am shopping trip on Friday. She found Clint trying to decide on a breakfast cereal.

“Hey,” he said, turning to take in her usual pajama pants. “Do you ever get bored shopping?” 

“Well, it’s grocery shopping. What do you expect, a burlesque show in the aisles?”

“That would be nice, but all I’m saying is that we could make it more interesting,” Clint said as if he were making an excellent point. Lacey narrowed her eyes with suspicion.

“Should I be scared right now?”

“I think we should try to find the weirdest thing in the store. We can split up or stay together, but we have to agree on the weirdest thing. I will buy it, since this was my idea, and then we both have to try it.” 

“How did you even get that idea?”

“I don’t know, I just thought it would be fun.” 

“Fine. I’m game. Let’s go.” 

They began to push their carts through aisles. Sometimes they ended up in the same aisle, sometimes in separate ones. When the whole store was searched, they met up and shared their findings. 

“Diet tonic water,” Clint said, holding up a bottle. “How do you even make diet tonic water? What is in tonic water that can be removed to make it diet?” 

“That’s pretty weird,” Lacey agreed, but held up a jar of an unnatural-looking orangey condiment. “Baconnaise. Bacon flavored mayonnaise. It’s not even flavored with real bacon. It’s mayonnaise flavored with artificial bacon flavoring.” 

“You win. That’s…I mean, bacon makes everything better, but that sounds pretty gross. You remember the deal?”

“We both try it. We can go to my place to try it if you want, it’s just up the street.” 

“Sounds good to me.” 

“Don’t forget, you’re buying it.”

“Gimme.” They purchased the Baconnaise and the rest of their items and Clint agreed to follow her to her apartment. Fortunately, he hadn’t bought anything that needed refrigeration. 

Lacey unlocked the door and they both went inside. 

“Is Gwen asleep?” Clint asked, looking around the apartment. He seemed to remember that Lacey and Gwen were roommates. 

“She’s staying at a local hotel tonight for a review. Okay, so how do you want to do this? Put it on some crackers? Make a sandwich and put it on? Just dig in with spoons?” 

“I say we just go for it with spoons,” Clint said, clearly trying to seem hardcore. Lacey turned to her silverware drawer to pull out two spoons. 

"Hey buddy, what's your name?" Lacey turned to see who he was talking to and saw her cat on the counter. He meowed adorably and Clint began to pet him. 

"That's Sinatra," Lacey said. 

"Nice name," he said, petting Sinatra one more time. "You ready for this?" Lacey handed Clint a spoon. Clint opened the jar of Baconnaise and they each stuck a spoon in the condiment.

“Ready?” Clint asked.

“One, two…three!” They both shoveled the spoons into their mouths. There was a pause while their mouths took a moment to process what was happening, then both of their faces contorted in disgust. They both swallowed and started coughing. Lacey grabbed a glass and filled it with water, then took a big swig and handed the glass to Clint. He did the same. 

“That was disgusting,” Clint said. 

“Salt. Just…pure salt. That’s what it tasted like. Like a mouthful of salty goo.” 

Clint raised an eyebrow at her, then burst into laughter. For a minute, Lacey was confused. Then, suddenly, she realized that what she had just described could also describe some bodily fluids in a sexual context. She blushed when she realized what it sounded like. 

“Get your mind out of the gutter!” 

“You’re the one who pushed it into the gutter,” he replied, gasping for air from laughing. “You can get it out.”

“I can get you out. I have a wedding to deliver a cake to tomorrow afternoon and I’ll still need to do some finishing touches before then, so I need my sleep.” 

“Fine, fine. I should get home anyway. Thanks for sharing in the adventure.” 

“It was…surprisingly not horrible,” Lacey said sincerely, with a slight sparkle in her eye. “See you around.” 

“Goodnight.” 

Clint left, and Lacey went to bed trying to figure out what she was going to do with a jar of disgusting bacon-flavored mayonnaise.


	11. A Wedding is Attended

Fortunately, Lacey got to sleep in a little bit because the wedding was in the afternoon and she had gotten the cake mostly done the day before. However, she knew she still had a lot to do, so she woke up at ten and started to get ready. Gwen arrived home. 

“Oh yeah, you have the billionaire wedding today. Man, you’re so lucky that you get to go to that.”

“If you get ready with me, you can come with me!” 

“No, I shouldn’t. She didn’t say you could bring someone with you, did she?”

“You can be my assistant! I’ll probably need your help anyway, that cake is massive. It had to be, for that many guests.”

“Well, if you insist.” 

They got ready together, Lacey in a 1950s floral dress and Gwen in a pretty green wrap dress. When they were done, they headed to the shop. Lacey had some last-minute painting and airbrushing to do on the cake. She really would need Gwen’s help lifting it and transporting it. When they had done everything that could be done at the shop, they headed to the reception venue.

*****

The wedding reception was huge. It seemed like the whole city was in Stark Tower. The guests were amazed at how delicious the cake was, as well as how much the cake resembled the tower before it was cut. It was just like a smaller version of the building they were all standing in. Pepper and Tony approved of it highly. 

“Gwen!” A voice boomed above the music and other guests. Gwen turned around to see Thor, looking jaw-dropping in a tux. It was clear that he had been a groomsman in the wedding. 

“Hey, Thor! You look great.” 

“You are a vision of loveliness,” he replied. Gwen smiled and blushed, and Lacey took that as a sign to go elsewhere. She was just about to take a step away while Gwen and Thor chatted, when she saw Clint emerge from the crowd in front of her. He gave her a little wave while he walked over. Lacey couldn’t help but think he looked incredible in a tux – the same one Thor was wearing. He was obviously also a groomsman. 

“Your cake was phenomenal,” he told her when he got to her. 

“I also enjoyed the cake!” Thor boomed. 

“Well, obviously! My best friend is just that awesome,” Gwen said proudly. Lacey began to get embarrassed by all the praise. 

“Um, so how do you guys know Tony and Pepper?” Lacey asked, changing the subject.

“We work with him for SHIELD as part of the Avengers Initiative,” Clint explained. Gwen had already told Lacey about the Avengers thing after Thor told her about it. Lacey nodded, and was about to say something else when the group was interrupted.

“CLINT!” A high-pitched, shrill voice squealed. Clint got a pained look on his face. 

“Hi, Serafina,” Clint said as he turned to face her, looking and sounding less-than-enthusiastic. 

“You look so handsome,” the girl squealed, smiling up at him. Lacey got a good look at her. She was very skinny, wearing a slinky black dress with a twirly skirt that showed a lot of skin up top, and she had her long, black hair flowing down her back. She looked very Italian. 

“Uh, thanks,” Clint said. 

“You are very shrill,” Thor said, not realizing that saying something like that was considered rude. “And tiny,” he added. The girl turned and batted her mascara-caked eyelashes at Thor, oblivious to the fact that he had just insulted her. Ignoring the newcomer, Thor turned back to Gwen. “Would you like to dance?” Gwen nodded and took his hand as he led her to the dance floor. He wrapped one arm strongly around her waist and took her hand in his other one. Her hand disappeared inside his and she looked up at him, her forehead level with his chest. Lacey smiled at the sight – Gwen and Thor were very cute together. 

“You haven’t danced with me yet,” Serafina said, pushing Clint’s arm weakly and putting on a pouty face. She still had yet to acknowledge Lacey yet, so Lacey slowly crept away. Clint gave her a desperate look, but she didn’t really know what she was supposed to do – she was feeling awkward and was being ignored. She went to the bar to grab a glass of wine. 

“You know what, I have been craving a glass of wine all night and it looks like there’s finally some room at the bar, but I will be right back,” Clint promised in a desperate attempt to get away from her. He grabbed his glass of wine and then stepped over to Lacey.

“You’ve got to help me,” Clint begged. 

“Help you with what?” 

“Help me get rid of her.”

“Why do you want to get rid of her? She’s really pretty.”

“I guess, but like Thor said, she’s shrill. She’s been trying to get into my pants ever since the second my last girlfriend and I broke up, but she’s cheated on some of my friends before and is generally just trashy, squealy, and obnoxious.” 

“Is there a reason you can’t just tell her to buzz off?” Lacey asked reasonably.

“Please just help!” 

“Why should I?” 

Clint thought for a moment, then remembered. “You owe me! For the guy in my bar. You promised a favor of equal or lesser value, and this is pretty equal.” 

“Fine, you’re right. I’ll help.” 

“Thank you,” he said sincerely. “Shit, she’s coming back over. Help.” 

“When she gets over here, bump into me. Like it’s an accident.”

“What?”

“Just do it!” Lacey demanded. 

“There you are!” Serafina said, having reached them. “I was wondering where you’d gone.” 

“I was just coming to find you,” Clint lied, moving his arms as if he were gesturing while talking but elbowing Lacey while he did it. Lacey threw her wine on Serafina’s cleavage, pretending that it was because Clint bumped her. Serafina shrieked at a pitch almost outside the human range of hearing. 

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” Lacey said, grabbing a napkin off the closest table and starting to dab at Serafina’s chest. Serafina glared at her, but clearly didn’t want to look bad in front of Clint. 

“I’ll go clean up,” Serafina said, “I’ll be back soon, Clint.” 

As soon as she was gone, Clint let out the laughter he’d had to hold in during this incident. Then, he held out his hand halfway through the song that was playing. 

“Dance with me?”

Lacey looked down at his hand, kind of surprised, but took it. He led her to the floor and one of his amazing arms slid around her waist while he took her hand in his. She hadn’t been so close to him before, and he smelled clean and manly. Just as Lacey was feeling weird for being able to smell him, Clint spoke.

“Your hair smells like roses and cake,” he said matter-of-factly. 

“Are you smelling me?”

“No, your head happens to be close to my nose.” 

“I see. Well, you smell like mountains and aftershave.” 

“You’re smelling me too? You hypocrite.” 

“Your neck happens to be close to my nose,” Lacey retorted. Clint smirked and the song ended. Lacey took a step back, removing herself from his amazing arms, and they moved off of the dance floor. Then she noticed something over her shoulder. 

“Oh no, your friend is coming back.” 

“Shit, do something. Quickly! Before she gets here!” 

“What am I supposed to do?” Lacey demanded. 

“I don’t know, think of something! Now!” 

Serafina was just a few yards away, and would get there at any moment. Without thinking, Lacey threw her arms around Clint’s neck and pressed her mouth against his. Neither of them could have been more surprised at this turn of events. Although Lacey is the one who did it, she had no idea where it came from, but suddenly, she was kissing Clint. On Clint’s part, it took him a second to realize what was happening and act accordingly. Oh, kissing is happening, he thought, maybe I should do something with my hands. He managed to get his hands slipped around Lacey’s waist. Overall, it wasn’t a great kiss, since neither one was prepared for it and it was kind of frantic, but it wasn’t a terrible kiss either. After several seconds, Lacey broke the kiss and backed away. Looking over Clint’s shoulder, she saw Serafina stomp off. 

“She’s gone. I don’t think she’ll be back anytime soon.”

Clint just stared, still kind of in shock over the kiss. “So…that happened,” he said, as if still trying to process the whole thing. 

“It was the only way I could think of to get rid of her on such short notice. It worked, didn’t it?” 

“That it did. Thanks for the help,” he said, quite sincerely. 

“I do what I can.”

At that moment, Pepper approached, looking gorgeous in her white dress, wanting to dance with Clint. As soon as Lacey was standing alone, Gwen stepped up to her. 

“Are you going to tell me what that was?” she asked with raised eyebrows.

“I was helping him get rid of that shrill Italian girl.” 

“Got it,” Gwen said, although she wasn’t entirely convinced that’s all it was. 

“Where have you been, anyway?” 

“What do you mean? I’ve been dancing with Thor.” 

“For the past twelve songs?” 

Gwen blushed a little. “Yeah. I mean, we sat out a few and just talked.” 

“Is there something you need to tell me?” Lacey asked, her eyes lit up. 

“No…I mean…I don’t know. We’ve hung out a few times, but I don’t know if I could really call them dates. I really like him, though. I’ll let you know if anything changes.” 

“You better! And I think he likes you too. The way he smiles at you is adorable.” 

“Really?” 

“Seriously! He is totally smitten,” Lacey promised. 

“I hope so.” 

The rest of the wedding was uneventful, but fun. Serafina didn’t approach Clint again for the rest of the night, and several people complimented Lacey on the cake and showed her pictures they had taken of it before it had been cut. Gwen and Thor continued to dance and chat periodically, and by the time Gwen and Lacey got home, they were exhausted and fell asleep soon after changing out of their dresses.


	12. Expected Swimming and Unexpected Swimming

While the girls sat in their apartment drinking coffee when they awoke on Sunday, Gwen gave Lacey a look. 

“Are you going to admit that you like him?” Gwen asked.

“Who?”

“You know who. Clint.” 

“I don’t,” Lacey said, a little bit confused where Gwen would get that idea. Gwen just continued to look at her. “No, seriously, I don’t like him like that. We’re friends,” she insisted. Gwen continued to give her friend the stare-down. “Seriously, Gwen, just believe me, I don’t…shit, I totally like him.” Gwen smiled triumphantly. 

“I know.” 

“How did I let this happen? I don’t want to like him! Well, he can NOT know that I do. We’re just friends, he’s made it clear he doesn’t find me that attractive, and he obviously just likes to have a lot of sex with girls who are actually, you know, sexy.” 

“You’re totally sexy!” Gwen told her friend. “Besides, how do you know?”

“Because he bought the huge box of condoms when we first met. ” 

“Hmm. I don’t know, I still think he likes you too.” 

“Whatever. Can we talk about something else?” 

“If you insist. I have to start getting ready anyway,” Gwen said. 

“For what?”

“Thor and I made plans to go swimming at the lake.” 

“Oh?” Lacey smiled. “Well, that’s good. It’s supposed to be scorching today, so you’ll have a great way to cool off. Plus, you get to see him shirtless, so that’s always a plus.”

“Pretty much.” 

Gwen went and changed into her bikini – a green bandeau halter top and white bottoms – and put on a tank top and shorts over it. Lacey had to admit she was jealous of Gwen’s plans for the day. Not only did she get to hang out with a very attractive man who was clearly crazy about her, but she got to go swimming to cool off on what was bound to be an insanely hot day. Lacey would just be stuck in the apartment with shitty air conditioning that didn’t really work. 

Thor arrived soon after wearing red and silver board shorts with a white t-shirt, and Gwen took off with him. Lacey grabbed the book she was reading and sat on the couch. She read half a chapter when there was a knock on the door. A little annoyed that she’d been interrupted, she went to the door, book in hand, and flung it open. 

“Clint? What are you doing here?” She suddenly became aware that she still had bed head and tried to smooth out her hair with her free hand as she let him in. 

“Are you doing anything today?” 

“I was planning on reading my book,” she held it up: The Metaphysics of Star Trek by Richard Hanley. 

“That is officially the nerdiest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life, and that’s including when my friend from high school asked me if I wanted to see his annotated list of web comics.”

“It happens to be a very interesting book,” she said grumpily. She’d barely had enough coffee to handle Clint and his sass. 

“I’m sure it is, but you have plans now, so it’ll have to wait. Go change into your swimsuit.” 

“Why? Are we going swimming?” 

“No, we’re going to see an opera. What do you think is the plan when someone says to put on your swimsuit?” Lacey gave him a look, but put the book down. She looked him over and realized he was wearing purple swim trunks and a black t-shirt. She grabbed her coffee cup and went into her room to change. 

Lacey put on her vintage black-and-white polka dot swimsuit – a halter bikini top and a bottom with a ruffled skirt, then began slathering on copious amounts of sunscreen. 

“What is taking you so long?” Clint shouted from the couch. 

“I’m putting on sunscreen!” Lacey shouted back. Finally, she managed to cover her exposed skin with SPF and put on her retro blue cover-up, a short robe with a yellow ribbon to tie it closed. She grabbed a tote bag and loaded in her beach towel, some extra sunscreen, her wallet, phone, and keys. Finally, she grabbed her retro zebra-print sunglasses and came out. 

“Ready.” Clint glanced at her as she came out, and couldn’t help but admire her legs. 

“Let’s go,” he said. 

*****

It was an insanely hot day, and Gwen couldn’t wait to get into the water. She began taking off her shorts when she saw Thor peel off his t-shirt. Gwen couldn’t help but stop for a moment and admire the view. He had great biceps, a muscular chest and incredible abs. There was no doubt about it – he did look like a god. Thor ran his hand through his long golden hair to make sure it was out of his face, then jumped into the water. Gwen finished pulling off her shorts and tank top and felt a little self-conscious about her body compared to Thor’s. 

However, when she was slowly stepping into the water, Thor took a look at her and smiled. He had no complaints whatsoever about seeing her in her bikini. 

“When you wear the color green, your eyes become even more enchanting than they are naturally.” Gwen blushed at such an amazing compliment. “You are mesmerizing.” 

She finally made it into the cool water and swam over to Thor. He splashed her and laughed, and Gwen splashed him back. They splashed each other and laughed for a while, and Gwen wanted to spend time with him forever.


	13. Splishing and Splashing

Clint parked his car and they got out as Lacey looked around. 

“A water park?” 

“Yes. You need to learn how to have fun.” 

“I have fun! Why do you think I don’t have fun?”

“You were going to spend the day reading The Metaphysics of Star Trek   
alone.” She gave him a look, and he gave her one right back. “You clearly don’t get enough sunlight, judging by how white your legs are. Seriously, I didn’t know someone could actually be the color of wax paper.” 

“Hey!” 

They made it to the entrance and Lacey started to pull out her wallet when Clint paid for both of their tickets. Lacey began to wonder if this was supposed to be a date, but was too afraid to ask. Besides, she figured he was probably just paying because it had been his idea and he hadn’t given her any notice. At any rate, he obviously didn’t like her that way, and that was fine. I mean, what guy would like a girl who is “almost hot” and “doesn’t know how to have fun”? 

They found a good place to set down their stuff and Clint immediately removed his t-shirt. Lacey hated to admit it, but she found him incredibly attractive. His arms, shoulders, and torso had just the right amount of muscle and Lacey figured he must be shirtless outside a lot, because he had a nice, even tan with no tan lines. He kicked off his flip flops and began to walk into the wave pool, and Lacey hated herself for noticing that his butt looked pretty good in his purple shorts. Clint dipped under the water and came back up, and Lacey was too self-conscious to remove her cover-up as she watched droplets of water roll down his arms. 

“Are you going to come in?” Clint asked while Lacey stood at the edge of the wave pool, holding her cover-up closed around her neck. 

“Turn around,” she requested.

“Seriously? Are you that self-conscious?” 

“Maybe. Just turn around until I get into the water.” 

“Fine, fine.” He turned around. Lacey undid the ribbon that held together her cover-up and slid it off her shoulders, then began to step into the pool. As soon as Clint heard her splashing behind him, he turned back around. 

“Hey! You were supposed to wait until I got into the water!” Lacey used her arms to cover her stomach, blushing. However, Clint ran his eyes over her body and he smirked as if he didn’t see anything wrong. Lacey stomped quickly into the water and Clint gave her a funny look. 

“You get into the water like you’re Godzilla stomping through Tokyo.”

“I hate the water slowly creeping up my body.” 

“If you say so, Hulk.” Lacey knew she was comparing her to a member of The Avengers, a scientist who turned into a huge angry green monster. Not exactly a flattering thing to hear from a guy you recently realized you have a huge crush on. 

“Your hair isn’t wet yet,” Clint pointed out. 

“So? I just got in.” 

“That needs to be fixed,” he said, then dipped under the water and grabbed her by the legs to pick her up over his shoulder. Then he tossed her into the water while she let out a squeak of surprise. She came back up and took a deep breath as she wiped her wet hair out of her eyes. Clint was laughing, and as he was distracted by his own hilarity, Lacey took the opportunity to tackle him into the water. This led to a water wrestling match that continued until the lifeguard whistled at them sternly. 

*****

Gwen and Thor were having fun in the water and talking about Asgard and the other nine realms, about Colorado where Gwen grew up, and about places they had been and wanted to go. They went to a shallow enough part of the lake that Gwen’s feet could touch the bottom to rest and enjoy the cool water as they continued the conversation. 

“Seeing Asgard would be awesome,” Gwen admitted. “It would be like living in a story book.” 

“Perhaps, in time, you may be able to fulfill that desire,” Thor said, making Gwen blush at the thought that he was suggesting a future with her. Thor’s blue eyes were looking into Gwen’s hazel ones, and he placed his large hand on the back of her neck, under her wet hair. He pulled her closer to him, then his mouth came down on hers. He kissed her as if both of their lives depended on it. 

Gwen kissed him back, letting herself get lost in their mutual feelings through the kiss. She rested a hand on his chest, the other slipped around his neck to play with his long hair. He wrapped his free arm strongly around her waist, pulling her even closer. When he finally broke the kiss, he slid his thumb down her cheek. 

“I have been attracted to you since I first saw you,” he said. 

“Same for me,” Gwen confessed. 

“You possess every quality I have always desired in a romantic companion,” Thor said, then gave her a kiss of similar passion to the first one. 

*****

Lacey was practically sitting in Clint’s lap. They were in a huge inner tube, her back to him, with his strong arms around her waist. She was feeling pretty self-conscious about being that close to him with so little on. 

“Are you ready?” He asked, his chin resting on her shoulder from behind. Lacey looked down the huge twisty water slide they were about to go down. 

“No,” she replied honestly in a voice slightly high from fear. She wasn’t scared of heights, but the thought of going straight down, getting tossed around in a slide, into the pool below was terrifying. 

“It’ll be fun, don’t worry.” She grabbed Clint’s arms tighter and closed her eyes. She felt the inner tube get a slight push, and then suddenly they were moving quickly. She opened her eyes and immediately regretted doing so as they got whipped around in the slide. She started screaming, and Clint held her tighter. Finally, they reached the pool and slowly floated away from the slide. After a moment of shock, Lacey started laughing. 

“See? I told you it would be fun,” Clint said. 

“Okay, you’re right, it was a little fun,” she had to admit. The fact that most of that had to do with his arms around her didn’t need to be mentioned. “All the same, I could go for a break.” 

They dried off, then grabbed some snacks and found some chairs in the sun in which to eat them. When they were done, Lacey pulled out her sunscreen and started rubbing it on her arms and legs. 

“Are you seriously reapplying sunscreen? Again?” 

“Excuse me,” she retorted, “but the back of the bottle specifically says to reapply at frequent intervals after swimming or towel drying. At least this time you could make yourself useful.” She handed the sunscreen to him and turned her back toward him. After a moment, she felt his strong hands rubbing the lotion into her back. 

“You and your sunscreen,” he muttered. “Your skin is blinding me, and you’re constantly slathering yourself in SPF.” 

“Oh, shut up. Not everyone turns a perfect golden-bronze like yourself. Some of us just turn into a Neapolitan hot mess in the sun.” 

After they had eaten, Lacey had reapplied, and they took a rest, they went back to their day of fun at the water park.


	14. Thor Draws Attention

Lacey got home to find Gwen sitting on the couch after having freshly showered. 

“Where have you been?” Gwen asked, seeing Lacey’s attire. 

“Clint stopped by after you left and essentially demanded that I go with him to the water park.” 

“He took you on a date?”

“It wasn’t a date,” Lacey insisted. 

“Did he pay?”

“Well, yes.” 

“Did he kiss you?” 

“No. Didn’t even look like he was going to try. It wasn’t a date, but it was fun. Speaking of dates, however, you did get a kiss, I can tell from your face. Details!” 

Gwen divulged the details of her day with Thor and obviously talked about what an amazing kisser he was. Lacey smiled, so glad to see that her friend had found a good guy and that they were finally together. 

*****

The next week was busy for Lacey. Business was starting to pick up from the publicity from the Stark wedding. She was really happy to see her hard work pay off. Clint came in on Wednesday.

“I hope you and Gwen didn’t have plans for Sunday.”

“I never have plans for Sunday, but I can’t speak for Gwen. She might be doing something with Thor.”

“For what I have in mind, Thor would be involved too. We can come to your place and pick you guys up.” Lacey had no idea if she was being asked on a double date or not…that’s certainly what it sounded like, but with Clint, she was never sure.

“I’ll talk to her about it and text you.” 

“Sounds good.” 

Speaking of texting, Lacey wasn’t sure why Clint didn’t just call or text to make these plans. On Clint’s part, he had just wanted to see her again.

*****

Clint was shoveling some more microwave dinners into his cart when Lacey found him in the store. 

“Seriously, do you ever actually cook?” Lacey asked. 

“Nope,” he responded. 

“Don’t you ever want a more substantial meal?” 

“Well, yeah. I’m just not good at cooking.” 

“I can make you dinner sometime if you want,” Lacey said without thinking, then realized it probably sounded like she was asking him on a date. “I know, why don’t you and Thor come over after our Sunday plans and I’ll make us all dinner. It’ll be like a small dinner party!” 

“You would host a dinner party.”

“What does that mean?” He just shrugged. “Are you in or not?”

“Sure, we’ll plan on that.” 

“Cool, guess I’d better stock up, then, while I’m here. Are you or Thor allergic to anything? Have any foods you hate?”

“Nah, I think we should be cool with whatever.” 

While Lacey shopped, she grabbed the stuff for her killer spaghetti, figuring tomorrow she’d stop at the liquor store and get some vodka for the sauce and some wine to go with the dinner. While they were at the checkout, Clint remembered something he had wanted to tell Lacey. 

“By the way, if you come to Three Roses tomorrow night, we’re having a Speakeasy Night, and if you dress up, you’ll get 2 for 1 drinks all night. Figured I’d give you a heads up.”

“Thanks for letting me know!” 

 

The girls did go to Three Roses the next night. They’d raided Lacey’s closet, which was full of vintage clothing, and Gwen was wearing a black flapper dress with fringe on the bottom and Lacey had on a 1920s tennis-style dress with a cloche hat. They sat down at the bar next to Thor, who either hadn’t gotten the memo about the theme night or hadn’t cared – he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Clint, however, was wearing a 1930s-style pinstripe suit with a fedora. 

Thor gave Gwen a passionate kiss, and Lacey turned her head to give them as much privacy as she personally could. Clint got them their drinks, and Lacey had to admit he looked sexy in vintage attire. She was subtly trying to check out his ass in the suit while he was mixing up some drinks, and ended up getting distracted while he smiled at a girl with a tiara saying it was her 21st birthday as he was handing her a drink. Lacey spilled her martini on the bar. 

“Aw, man. I made a huge mess.” She tried to get Clint’s attention so that she could ask for some napkins to clean it up, but he was too busy flirting it up with the 21st birthday girls. 

“Please, allow me to assist,” Thor said, noticing what had happened. All of a sudden, he stood up and peeled off his t-shirt, revealing his glorious godlike torso, and placed the shirt over the puddle of martini on the bar to soak it up. Every woman in the room turned to stare, from the 21st birthday girl to a 70-year-old woman sitting with her husband, their mouths hanging open. Lacey leaned over to say something to Gwen.

“You are one lucky bitch.” Gwen nodded, not removing her eyes from her boyfriend’s chest. Clint turned to see what all the fuss was about and rolled his eyes when he saw what had happened. 

“Seriously? Again? Thor, put your shirt back on.” Half of the women in the bar shot daggers at Clint, the other half unable to tear their eyes away from Thor’s body. Lacey turned to him. 

“Shut up!” She said through her teeth. “None of us are complaining. Besides, he can’t put his shirt back on…it’s soaked with martini,” she said, wiping the shirt around in the puddle for emphasis. Clint began mumbling something no one could hear, then went into a back room for a second, and came back out with a vest. Thor leaned down and placed an intense kiss on Gwen’s lips, making all the girls in the bar turn away grumpily. Clint tossed the vest to Thor, who put it on, although it was too small for him and didn’t cover much. 

“Glad I keep a spare vest here,” Clint said, referring to his usual bartending uniform. “Otherwise there would probably be some kind of girl smackdown every time he does that.” 

“Is somebody jealous of all the attention?” Lacey asked. 

“Don’t be ridiculous.” However, Clint did seem relieved that the females in the room seemed to move on with their lives now that Thor was marginally more covered. 

“If you hadn’t been too busy flirting to give me some napkins, he wouldn’t have had to take his shirt off, revealing that amazing six-pack with those pecs…” 

“Fine, fine, you’re right, just, for the love of God, no more talking about his pecs,” Clint begged. Lacey people-watched while Clint made more drinks. He handed out a couple shots, then decided to joke around with Lacey. He put some ice in a small glass and filled it with cold water, stuck his finger in the water, and finally stuck the finger in her ear. He was met with an ear-splitting shriek. Backing away, he held his hands up in surrender, not having expected that reaction. Lacey flapped her hands in front of her face to calm herself down while she shuddered and made whiney noises. Gwen turned to look at Lacey, then saw Clint. 

“You touched her ear, didn’t you?” He nodded. “Yeah, you don’t want to do that ever again. She HATES it when people touch her ears.” 

“Really?” He looked surprised. 

“It’s seriously the grossest feeling ever!” Lacey interjected. 

Clint knew he should probably heed Gwen’s warning and never do that again.


	15. A Scavenger Hunt and Dinner

Clint and Thor arrived at Lacey and Gwen’s apartment on Sunday at 10am. The girls didn’t know what the plan was, but they were told to wear something comfortable that would work outside, so Gwen had on denim shorts and a V-neck red top and Lacey was wearing a 50s-style blue gingham sundress. The guys had on jeans and t-shirts. They piled into Clint’s car, Lacey in the passenger’s seat and Gwen and Thor cuddling in the back seat. 

They arrived in Manhattan and found a burger place so they could eat before starting the day. While they ate, Clint explained the plan. 

“So here’s the plan: scavenger hunt around Manhattan. Here’s the list,” he said, handing Lacey a list of tasks for she and Gwen to look at. Thor was apparently in on the plan, since he didn’t say anything or ask to look at a list. 

Propose to a stranger  
Get a phone number  
High-five a cop  
Sing a Disney song in a Starbucks  
Get someone to give you an egg  
Find someone named Carl  
Ride a carousel  
Find a guy with a mustache in Central Park  
Get a food item for free  
Get someone to do the Macarena with you  
Get someone to hug you in Grand Central Station  
Convince a stranger that you've met them before

“Sounds like fun. How should we divide teams?” Lacey asked. 

“Guys vs. girls,” Clint said as if it were the only obvious arrangement. “Losing team has to sit all the way through dinner tonight in their underwear.” 

“I’m going to have to go with no on that,” Lacey said. 

“Why? Scared you’re going to lose? It’s not a big deal, I already saw you in a swimsuit, which is about the same as a bra and panties.” 

“We’re in,” Gwen said, shrugging. Lacey shrugged too – Clint had a point. 

They split up and ran off. Each team had their own advantages – Clint was flirtatious and persuasive, and Thor intimidating, but also had a killer smile. Gwen was awesome at starting conversations with people and relating to them, and Lacey had a small and adorable thing going for her, as well as a pretty damn good puppy face. The four were genuinely interested in seeing who would win. 

The girls won in the end. There were several reasons why. Clint came on way too strong trying to convince a girl he knew her, while Gwen’s subtle and natural conversation skills made a young woman feel like she really had known Gwen. Thor and Clint had a hard time approaching a cop without seeming like they were up to something, while Lacey’s sweet smile made the cop unable to resist giving her the high-five she asked for. What really did the guys in, though, was that they were so busy gloating about a task they had completed when they ran into the girls at Grand Central Station that they forgot to get someone to hug one of them. 

*****

As soon as they got to Lacey’s place, she went to the kitchen and put on an apron to start her spaghetti. Thor and Clint stripped off their clothes, and Gwen stared as she looked at both of their amazing bodies in boxer briefs – Thor in silky black, Clint in gray cotton. She got up to grab some wine for them all while Lacey cooked. 

“You saw Clint in a swimsuit and you didn’t tell me that his body looked like that?” Gwen demanded while she twisted the corkscrew into the cork of the wine bottle. 

“Oh? I didn’t notice…” Lacey lied. 

“Liar.” 

“Fine, I noticed. I just tried to ignore it since he obviously isn’t attracted to me. Now can we just drop it?” 

“If you insist,” Gwen said, grabbing three wine glasses and the bottle and bringing them to the living room. A few minutes later, Clint entered the kitchen, wine glass in hand. Lacey, who was standing over a stove with her back to him, thought it was Gwen. 

“Hey, can you grab me the vodka out of the cabinet?” she asked while stirring some mashed tomatoes in a pot. 

“Which cabinet?” Clint asked, setting his wine glass on the counter. Surprised at the voice, Lacey turned to see him in his gray boxer briefs and couldn’t stop herself from staring. 

“Sorry, I thought you were Gwen…um, that one,” she said, pointing to the cabinet. He grabbed the vodka and put it next to her, and she began dumping some in the pot, then stirring it in. Clint came up behind her and looked over her shoulder into the pot. 

“It smells good,” he said, close to her ear. She jumped, not realizing he was standing so close. Why was he unsettling her so much right now? “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, backing away a little bit. 

“Oh, it’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Lacey said as she turned to look at him, shrugging it off, even though her face was turning red from being so close to him while he was wearing so little. In order to pretend like he wasn’t making her feel so awkward, she grabbed some fresh herbs and seasonings, started chopping them and dumped them in the sauce. Clint just watched her. There was something about the way she was wearing a 1950s dress and an apron and cooking for him – it was incredibly sexy, and she had no idea. 

“Thank you for making dinner,” he said softly, thinking she was upset with him for some reason, the way she was smashing garlic cloves and refusing to look at him. 

“It’s…” she looked at him and saw how sincere he looked. She smiled a little. “It’s not a problem at all. I like to cook for people.” 

“Well, it smells amazing; I can’t wait to try it. Do you need any help with anything?” 

“No, I think I’m good. Thanks for offering, though,” Lacey said. Clint took his wine and started to go back into the living room to see Gwen and Thor making out pretty intensely. He immediately turned around and went back into the kitchen. 

“I never thought I’d have to see my bro Thor making out with a girl in his underwear, and yet, that’s what I just saw.” 

“Awkward! Although to be fair, the underwear thing was your idea. You seem to be responsible for Thor removing his clothes a lot…is there something you’d like to tell me?” Lacey teased. 

“Very funny.” 

After everything was ready, Lacey called out to Thor and Gwen, who came to the table. Clint couldn’t believe how good everything was. Thor shoveled the spaghetti into his mouth happily. It was a good time, and Lacey was glad she could spend time with such awesome friends. 

After dinner, Clint volunteered to do the dishes while Lacey made dessert. Thor and Gwen went back into the living room with their wine refilled.


	16. A Friend's Offer

When they sat down on the couch, Thor brought Gwen to him and kissed her, then held her in a cuddle. They figured Clint and Lacey would be in the kitchen a while dealing with dishes and dessert, and they liked the alone time. 

“I’m going to Seattle next weekend for a hotel review,” Gwen said. 

“You are leaving? For how long?” 

“Four days. I have to fly there, stay in a couple hotels, and fly back.” 

“Must you go?” Thor asked, hugging her even closer. If he held Gwen any tighter, he would crush her. 

“Yes, unfortunately.” Gwen remembered that Thor had said he wanted to see Seattle. “Thor, I know we haven’t been in a relationship for very long, so I hope this isn’t too forward, but…you could come with me. If you want.” 

Thor smiled and sat up, then pulled Gwen into another passionate kiss. 

“Nothing would bring me greater pleasure.” 

Gwen couldn’t remember the last time she was quite this happy – she was going away for a few days with her gorgeous boyfriend who made her feel beautiful and loved. What more could a girl ask for? 

*****

“So, what are you up to this week?” Clint asked casually as he wiped a plate dry. 

“Not much, just working. I’ll probably stay at a hotel one night because I wanted to get the apartment painted while Gwen’s staying in Seattle, and I’d rather not sleep with a bunch of fumes while it dries.” 

“Well, that’s stupid, paying for a hotel room in your own town. Why don’t you just stay at my place? You can crash on my couch.” 

“Really? You wouldn’t mind?” 

“Not at all,” he shrugged. “Just let me know what night.” 

“Thanks…I really appreciate that.”


	17. Clint's Place

Gwen and Thor checked into their hotel room and Thor put the luggage down. They took a look around and then sat on the bed. 

“Man, flying always makes me tired,” Gwen said. “Would you mind if we took a nap before going out and sight-seeing?” 

“Whatever you wish,” Thor smiled. They relaxed on the bed and snuggled up with every intention of taking a nap. However, Thor decided to give her a kiss, and that’s when the nap idea kind of disappeared. Thor’s kisses were always so intensely passionate, and soon they were both breathing heavily while their hands wandered. Gwen’s hands tangled in his hair and his hands traveled up her sides as he rolled over to be more on top of her. Their kisses grew more fervent, and Gwen decided that a nap could wait. She grabbed the sides at the top of Thor’s red plaid shirt and used all of her strength to rip it open, buttons flying and hitting the walls. She slid the shirt off his shoulders and her hands explored his chest, stomach, and back while his tongue explored her mouth. 

Soon Thor began kissing down her neck, and she dug her fingernails into his lower back and scratched her way up to his shoulder blades. He let out a growl of pleasure against her neck, and she could definitely feel how excited he was against her leg. She began undoing his jeans while his hands found their way up her top. He licked his way up her neck and bit her earlobe, making her gasp out Thor’s name. Gwen took a moment to hope that the walls were thick enough to prevent the people in the next room from hearing what transpired. However, that concern disappeared as soon as he began sliding her top off of her. 

*****

Lacey wanted to relax after her busy week, but she spent all of her Saturday painting various walls of her apartment. After she had finally finished, she took a quick shower to get the paint off of her and changed into clean pajamas before heading over to Clint’s. 

When she got there, it was about 9pm. He grinned when she showed up in pajamas, and already had a pillow and some blankets folded on the floor next to the couch, ready for when she got tired. 

“Are you hungry?” he asked. 

“Actually, I kind of am. I haven’t had a chance to get dinner yet.”

“Is Chinese okay?” he opened a drawer and started flipping around through various take-out menus. 

“Yeah, that’s perfect.” 

Clint ordered rice, garlic beef, and cashew chicken for them, and when it arrived, they ate it on the couch out of the containers while watching an old sci-fi movie on TV. They finished eating and Clint put the leftovers in the fridge and refilled their glasses of water. Lacey went to the bathroom, and when she came back, Clint was mopping water up off the couch with paper towels. 

“What did you do?” 

“I may have spilled half my water on the couch.” 

“Seriously?” Lacey went over and felt the wet spot on the couch. “That’s going to take forever to dry! Now where am I supposed to sleep, dingbat?” 

“Did you seriously just call me a dingbat?” She raised her eyebrows as if to say, ‘don’t even.’ “Fine, fine. Well, I mean, you can share my bed. It’s big enough for two.” 

“Please tell me you didn’t do this on purpose to get me into your bed,” she said jokingly. 

“Of course not. But we’re both adults, and we’re friends. Surely we can share a bed without it being weird. Unless you don’t think you’ll be able to keep your hands off of me,” he smirked. 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she rolled her eyes. “I’m more worried about you trying something with me.” 

“Oh, yeah, I can’t resist you when you wear your snowman pajamas in July. So sexy,” he said sarcastically. 

“Shut up.” 

Clint went into his room to change, since some of the water had gotten on him. He came out in red basketball shorts and a white t-shirt after several minutes, during which time he straightened up his room a little, now that a girl was going to be in it. 

“Are you tired yet?” he asked. 

“Actually, yeah,” Lacey admitted. “I had a long week and the painting today was exhausting.” 

Clint motioned her toward his room and Lacey took a look around when she was inside. He had a big bed with blue bedding, a dresser, a closet, a door into the bathroom, and some archery trophies from his youth. Lacey grabbed the hair elastic off her wrist and put her shoulder-length hair up to keep it out of her face while she slept, then crawled into Clint’s bed. 

He grabbed his t-shirt by the back of the neck and pulled it off, and Lacey’s eyes widened as she got to see his incredible body again, and those damn arms that she kept wanting to be wrapped around her. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Taking my shirt off? The weather tends to be hot in July, in case you didn’t know how seasons work. Judging by your pajamas, I’d say not.” 

Lacey ignored the snarky remark and laid down on one of his pillows. It was pretty warm in his room, she had to admit. Clint crawled into the bed next to her, pulled just the sheet over them, and turned off his bedside lamp before adjusting himself in the bed. Lacey physically had to stop herself from scooting over and snuggling up to him. Those arms did things to her, and it didn’t help that his bed smelled like him – mountains, aftershave, and shampoo. 

She turned her back to him and finally managed to fall into a deep sleep.


	18. Cuddling

Clint opened his eyes slowly and turned his head to see what time it was. 5am. Definitely not time to wake up. His brain finally adjusted to being awake and he realized that Lacey was on top of him. He put his chin to his chest to look at her. She was lying on her stomach, flopped over him with one arm and her head on his chest. He couldn’t help but smile at how adorably content she looked. Carefully, so that he wouldn’t wake her, he wrapped one arm around her back and put his other hand on her arm. He closed his eyes again. 

Lacey woke up a few minutes later and it took her a moment to remember that she wasn’t in her own bed, and in whose bed she was. Then she became aware that she was cuddling with something very warm that smelled like mountain air and soap. She pushed herself up with the hand that wasn’t on him and he opened his eyes again. 

“Why were we cuddling?” she asked, looking at the clock to see that it was only 5:15 in the morning. 

“Don’t look at me, you started it. I woke up and you were on top of me. I don’t mind, I like cuddling. Don’t you?” 

“Well…yes.” 

“Then get back here,” he said with a smirk, placing a hand behind her neck and gently pulling her head back down to his chest. Lacey couldn’t even begin to complain as he wrapped those strong, amazing arms back around her. He gently pulled the elastic band off of her hair and began running his fingers through it. 

"Don't touch my ears," she said softly. 

"I'm not going to touch your ears," he promised. Both comfortably enjoying the feeling of each other, they quickly fell back asleep. 

*****

Gwen woke up and smiled as she realized that she was being spooned by something big, warm, hard, and naked. Thor was holding her tightly, as if she would fly away in his sleep if he didn’t hold her down. She turned her head and kissed his shoulder. Opening his eyes, Thor smiled at her and pressed his mouth to hers. 

She turned around and placed her hands on his chest while she kissed him back passionately. 

“I wish I could stay here with you in Seattle for eternity,” Thor said in a sexy, raspy voice. 

“I do too. We’ll have to go back eventually, you know,” Gwen smiled. 

“Not until I am finished with you here,” Thor said, kissing her neck and rolling on top of her again.

*****

Lacey woke up again and realized she was alone in Clint’s bed. She looked at the clock – it was 10. She crawled out of the bed and was about to leave the room when she noticed something on top of the dresser. She stepped closer for a better look. It was the box of condoms, presumably the same box he bought the night they met, and it was unopened. Smiling to herself, she stepped out of his room. Clint was in the kitchen. He had put on a t-shirt and was drinking coffee. When he saw her, he grabbed a mug and poured Lacey some. 

“Thanks for letting me stay here,” she said after taking a sip. 

“Not a problem,” he said. “Do you have any plans for today?”

“Not really. I was just going to go back to my boring apartment and do nothing.” 

“You could stay in my boring apartment and do nothing with some company if you want.” 

“If you’re sure you don’t mind…” Lacey said, admitting that she wouldn’t mind sticking around and possibly cuddling with him some more. Between the cuddling and the unopened condoms that suggested he wasn’t sleeping around with a bunch of girls, she was beginning to wonder if he actually liked her.

“I’m really just being selfish here, because I just got a complete DVD set of Star Trek: The Original Series and haven’t found anyone to watch it with me yet.” 

“Well, when you put it like that, how could I resist?” 

After coffee and some toast that Clint made, they sat down on the couch and he began playing the Star Trek pilot. About halfway through the episode, Clint put his arm around Lacey and pulled her to him. Now that they’d already cuddled, he figured they might as well continue to do so. 

They spent the rest of the day cuddled up and enjoying the adventures and misadventures of Captain Kirk, Spock, Sulu, Scotty, Chekov, and Uhura. A lot of girls might consider it a lame Sunday, but to Lacey it was perfect. 1960s sci-fi, cuddling with a man she liked, and spending the day in…it was wonderful, and she wondered if she had been mistaken in thinking he wasn’t interested in her.


	19. Buddies

Clint went into Lacey’s shop the following week. She was helping a pretty blonde customer who was testing out some cake flavors for a party she was having. Lacey smiled at him when he walked in…and so did the blonde. 

“This one is crème de menthe, and this one is cherry vanilla,” Lacey said, pointing to some samples for the blonde woman. 

“Cherry vanilla is my personal favorite,” Clint said helpfully. 

“Oh?” the woman said. “So, you come here a lot?” 

“Yeah, all the time. Lace here is a great little baker; you can’t go wrong with any of the flavors. But if you want a recommendation, I really like the cherry vanilla.” 

The blonde tried the cake and closed her eyes. “Oh, that is good. I think I’ll take that.” Lacey began folding up a box to put her cupcakes in. “So, are you two friends?” the woman asked Clint, clearly trying to see if Lacey was his girlfriend. 

“Oh, yeah, we’re buddies.” 

Lacey’s heart sank a little bit. Buddies? Talk about being friend-zoned. She put the box of cupcakes on the counter and started ringing the woman up. The woman handed her a debit card.

“Are you having a party or something?” Clint asked her.

“Oh, yeah, just a small get-together with friends. You’re welcome to come if you’d like, since you were so helpful with the cake flavor.” She handed him a card. “There’s my phone number, if you decide you’d like to come. I’m Stephanie, by the way.”

Clint pocketed the card and shook her hand. “Clint. Thanks for the invitation, I’ll let you know.” 

“Thanks again,” she smiled as she left with her cupcakes. 

“She’s pretty,” Lacey said, trying to sound casual.

“You think so?” Clint asked, amused. 

“Yeah. I think you should go to her party.” It’s what a buddy would tell him, after all. 

“I don’t know,” Clint hesitated. “Maybe I will, maybe not.” 

 

“Why not go for it? You’re two attractive, single people,” Lacey insisted. She was determined to prove to herself that she didn’t care.

“Eh, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll call her later and get more info about it.” 

“Yeah, you should.” 

By the time he left, Lacey could not have felt more rejected and unappealing.


	20. Lacey Has Too Much to Drink

A couple of days later, Lacey had a horrible day at work. A mother had come in with six screaming kids that ran amok, a customer yelled at her for getting an order wrong accidentally, and she’d run out of eggs and had to put her baking on hold all afternoon. When she got home, she was so relieved to be done with the day. She grabbed her mail and went inside her apartment and sat on the couch to look through the mail. To top off her terrible day, she received a save-the-date for her past ex’s wedding with the woman he had cheated on her with. She couldn’t hold back tears any longer. She hadn’t needed the reminder that she was man-repellent. She felt rejected enough after the episode with Clint in the bakery, and this was a reminder of another man who hadn’t wanted her. She knew Gwen was spending the night at Thor’s but she desperately needed a drink. She didn’t really want to see Clint again at the moment, but since she was going to drink alone, she figured it would be better if she went somewhere where she knew someone. 

As soon as Clint saw her tear-stained face as soon as she sat down at the bar, he poured her a shot. 

“Bad day?” he asked. 

“You have no idea,” she said, taking the shot. 

“What’s up?” he started making her drink and she couldn’t help but burst into tears again. She told him about her day at work in detail, and finally about her ex’s save-the-date. He gave her another shot and she took it. 

By the end of the night, Lacey’d had more alcohol than she should have, and decided she should probably stop. She hadn’t been acting particularly drunk; otherwise Clint would have cut her off earlier. She stood up and the room spun as she realized that the booze had caught up with her. She’d seemed fine, but it caught up to her all at once and she collapsed back onto the barstool.

“I’m gonna go,” she told Clint in a slurred voice, since he was closing down the bar. 

“No, you’re not going anywhere,” he told her. “You’re drunk.” 

“But I need to go home,” she insisted. 

“You’re not driving. Just wait for me to finish up.” 

“Fine,” she said, sitting back down on the barstool and resting her chin in her hands. Clint finally finished everything and turned out the lights to the bar. 

“Come on,” he said, helping her off the stool. She stumbled when she stepped down and he caught her. He helped her out the door and propped her against the wall while he locked it. 

“Your arms have good muscles,” she said, checking him out in his vest. 

“Yeah? Well, thank you,” he said, amused, while he took her arm again to help her to his car. He put her in the passenger’s side and got in behind the wheel. He was going to take her home, but her apartment was about 20 minutes away and his was only five, so he just took her to his. 

“Are you trynna get into my pants?” Lacey asked, giggling. “’Cause you brought me here instead of home.” 

“No, I just live closer. You need to get some rest.” He led her into his room and pulled out a t-shirt and two pairs of basketball shorts, then handed her the shirt and one of the shorts. “Here, you can change into this.” 

She grabbed the clothes and started walking toward the bathroom, then stumbled and ran into his wall. He rushed over and helped her to the bed and started pulling her dress off of her, realizing she was too drunk to even change. 

“I should not have given you this much booze,” he mumbled, regretting that he hadn’t kept a better eye on her. 

“See, I knew it. You are trying to get into my pants,” she laughed. He pulled the t-shirt over her bra and then helped her into the shorts. “Actually, you’re trying to get me into your pants,” she said, then giggled some more. He helped her into the bed and put the covers over her. Then he pulled off his clothes and put on the other pair of shorts before climbing into bed next to her. Lacey rolled closer to him and grabbed him by the back of the neck, moving her face closer to his, trying to kiss him. 

“Lacey, no,” he said. She giggled and tried to kiss him again. “No, Lacey.” He grabbed her arms and pushed her away from him. Suddenly, she burst into tears. 

“No one wants me,” she sobbed. “My ex didn’t want me and you don’t   
want me and I’m ugly!” 

“You’re not ugly,” he said softly. The problem was, he did want her. But he wasn’t about to take advantage of her, and he didn’t want things to escalate if he started kissing her. He was just met with the sound of sobs while tears streamed down her face. 

“Shh,” he said, holding her against his chest. “It’s okay, you’re not ugly.” She just cried into him until she fell asleep.


	21. Misunderstandings Are Cleared Up

When Lacey woke up, her mouth felt like it was filled with sand. She realized that she was in Clint’s bed and he was spooning her. Did they have sex last night? She couldn’t remember much past being at Three Roses. Neither of them was naked, but she had to be sure. She sat up quickly and then put a hand to her head when it felt like it was hit with a hammer. She had a doozie of a hangover. Her movement had woken up Clint, and he sat up too. 

“What happened last night?” she asked. “Did we…”

“No.”

“Did I do anything stupid?”

“No. You tried to kiss me, but I didn’t let you.”

Lacey turned to look at him while she got out of bed. “Yeah, glad you stopped that. Thank God it didn’t happen, that would have been terrible,” she said acidly, then grabbed her dress and stomped into the bathroom.

“Lacey, that’s not what I meant,” Clint said through the door, running a hand through his hair. She didn’t answer. A few minutes later, she came back out in her dress and stomped out of his room without a word. He jumped out of bed and followed her. 

“Take me to my car,” she said coldly. 

“What’s wrong? Why are you mad at me?” 

“Just take me to my car!” 

“No, I want to know why you’re mad at me!”

“Because I like you, okay?!” Once it was out of her mouth, she realized what she’d said and tears welled up. “I know you couldn’t like a girl who’s ‘almost hot’ and ‘doesn’t know how to have fun,’ but it just…it hurts, okay?” He stood in shock for a moment, not knowing how to react to what had just happened. “Can you please just take me back to my car? If not, I can probably walk.”

Finally, Clint processed everything. She thought he didn’t like her. She’d taken it too seriously with the ‘almost hot’ comments and other things he said to tease her. 

“Lace…” he started, trying to figure out where to begin. “I think you’re beautiful. Shit, you’re…you’re beautiful.” She stared at him. 

“What?” 

He walked over to her and looked into her eyes. 

“I’ve always thought you’re beautiful.”

“Why didn’t you want to kiss me last night, then?”

“I did. But I didn’t want you to think I’d taken advantage of you. I didn’t want to not be able to stop myself from taking things too far.” 

While she was asking questions, she figured she might as well just get all of them out at once. 

“Why haven’t you used any of your condoms?”

“What?”

“The box you bought the night we met. It hasn’t been opened.”

“Oh, that?” he ran a hand through his hair. “I only bought it that night because I saw you and I thought a lot of guys must hit on you, so I wanted to stand out, and I figured maybe if I seemed like a ladies’ man…”

“Seriously?” 

“Yeah, pretty dumb, huh?” he looked a little ashamed.

“Yeah, that is pretty dumb.” 

“I know.” 

“I mean, you thought that’d impress me? That’s ridiculous.” 

“Fine, fine, I get it. It was stupid. I didn’t know better,” he looked at his feet, kind of embarrassed.

“So, you’ve liked me this whole time?”

“Well…yeah,” he said, still looking at his feet. “You know what I can’t stop thinking about?”

“What?”

“Well, a lot of things. Rubbing sunscreen on you, dancing with you at the Stark wedding, cuddling and watching Star Trek. But mostly, I keep thinking about when you kissed me.” 

“When did I do that?” 

“At Stark’s wedding, remember? To get rid of Serafina.”

“Oh, that?” she looked embarrassed. “That wasn’t even good, I wasn’t prepared at all.” 

He put a hand on her face and ran his thumb down her cheek. 

“In that case, maybe you’d like to try again?” Lacey smiled at him, and he leaned down slowly and hesitantly pressed his lips against hers. In that kiss, every stupid misunderstanding between them disappeared, and they kissed each other softly as if they were getting to know each other in a new way. Clint’s hand left her face and he put his arms around her waist to pull her to him, and her hands slid up his still-bare chest and wrapped around his neck. He finally broke the kiss and rested his forehead on hers. 

“We’re a couple of dumbasses, aren’t we?” he whispered.

“Complete idiots,” she agreed. 

He kissed her again, feeling that they should make up for some lost time. Suddenly, both of their phones rang at once. 

“Lacey? Where are you? Don’t you remember, you and Clint were going to come to the amusement park with Thor and I?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot, we made that plan like a week ago. Sorry, we’ll be right there.”

“What do you mean, we?”

“Um…”

Gwen looked at Thor, who’d received similar news during his phone call to Clint, and their eyes widened as they wondered how those two ever got together without their help.


End file.
